Door-latch-operating mechanism.



R. J. & c. L. R0uLO. DOOR LATCH OPERATING MECHANISM.

I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. 1917.

Patented July 31,1917.

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3101154131) J. ROU-LO, or Los ANe'ELE's, Ari-ii cL'AUnE L; RoULo; or OAKLAND;

DOOBFrLA'rcIi-OP'ERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters men; P t t d f l 313-191 7;

To all whom itmay concem'" Be it known that-we, RICHARD J'. Rourio aiid CLAUDE L. ROUIjO; citizensof the 'United States; residing at Dos" Angela; and Oakland, respectively,in tlie counties o'fLo'sAngeles and Alameda, respectively, and" State of California, have inventednew and use} fu'l' Improvements in Door-Latch-Operat- Mechanism, of which the" following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety appliances for" elevators and particularly pertains to a lock for'the doors of e'leirator shafts aiid isparticuhrly adapted for use'withoui' co'n troller' lock' mechanism disclosed in our @0- ending a lication, filed July 27, 1916, Serial No. 111,597. I

It is the principal object of this invention to pr'oVid'e'a mechanism automatically operating in connection with the power control' lever of" an elevator shaft and which will control the elevator 'shaft door'lock' in am'aiiner'to rev nt the opening ofthe door whenlthecon'trol lever is not in a" neutral positiom I,

Another object" of this invention is to provide door lock mechanism which is simple in its construction and'which at all times will hold the door" in it's' locked position exc'ept at 'the' intervals "when actuated bythe controller mechanism.

' Another" obj 'ect of this inyention' is 'toprovide a lock operating" mechanism which is simplein' its construction and which will be actu'atedby the control'lever Without appreciable efior't." I

Itds afurth'er object'o'f thisinvention' to provide safety lock" for elevator doors which atall time's positive in its operation an'd'which is not liable to become broken or out E of order.

Other objects will appear hereinafter;

The iifi' ention is illustrated; byway of exampleyin the accompanying drawings in which: I

Fig tifre' lis=' afrag mentai y View sectionand elevation" illustrating-an elevator ares positioned before anelevator shaft door and particularly illustrating the *doorlockand thecontrol mechanism therefor. I

Figf 'is='a viewin plan; as seenalong th line; of Fig. 1 and as" disclo'sing the' lock'actuating bar and itsmode of 'OP'GI'iLtIOIL' Referring more particularly to thedrawings, 10 indicates an elevator car; which'is adapted tomoye Vertically along a'ii'elevator shaft. This shaft is formed with door-ways given inter'yals along its length, said doorwa s-'beingclosedby doors 11'. The" car may be driijen by any source of' powerand is here shown as'controlledby' a controller lever'1'2 which is mounted'ii'ithin a controller case 13 and connects-with suitable'c'o'rit'rol mechanism. This lever islscured to a shaft 1-4, around the" center of whichjit rotates. Mounteduponthe Wall of l'l'le'eleva-tor aiid" adj acen't the shaft is an animate"lockiiigrbar 1 5 whichifnflii s"apdrtiOil Of the control lever lockingdevice embodied within our 'co-peiiding applicat'ion. Thisarcuate member is pivotally n'io'untecl upon a stub shaft l6 whicli is" horizontally disposed above the shaft 14 of ontroller andpa'ra'llel therewith; The'arcuate' member is formed with. an upwardly extending arm 17 which ispro Vided with le er pins 18 aiid 19'; extending along the" opposite sides"- of the 5 controller lever in a manner to "causefthe lever and the arcuate member at be actuated simultanelY Mounted 'up'or'i the shaft 16 andifixe'd to rotate with the member 15 is a lifting cam 20. This cam is'eccentrically mounted upon the shaftgand supports a" slotted lifting bit-r 21. The bar 21 hasain' enlargedupper elongated slot 22"whichencompasses the ac"- centric cam- 2O. The width of said slot" is sufficient to permita desired movement of the eccentric 20 cause the bar to be raised a" ShOft distance asjth'e' controller lever and a r'cliia'te member areswung to their intermediate position; The lower portion ofthe b'ar21 isforme'd with a'guide slot 23 which is' narrow in' widthand is 'sea'ted'over aguideroller 24; securedto the side of the elevator car; Mounted up'o'n"th'e lower end ofith'e' bar 21' is a co'nneetingrod -25 which depends therefrom upon a 'pivotpin '26 and extendsfthrough an opening in the floor of the elevator car where-it is pivotally' connected to: a bell crank 27. This crank is moiinted'b'eneath and to the fioor'oi the'car by a 'br'acketQS which pivotally supports the bell crank. Thelegofthebell cranktowhich the rod 25 is connected stands substantially hori zoii tally and =the' opposite legi normally extends vertically downward. This-legi-ispivotally' connected to a horizontally disposed connectingrod 2-9- which passes" across. and beneathahe car to engagethe freeend of-a trip lever 30. This lever is in the form of a bell crank, having legs of unequal length, 7

32. This member is formed with a horizontally. extending shank 33 and a vertically extending actuating bar 34 whichis horizontally moved when the trip lever 30 is rotated upon its aXis. In order to guide the lock actuating member 32 and cause it to remain in position, the end of the shank 33 is provided with a pin 35 which extends into a V-shaped slot 36 formed along a guide plate 37. It will be understood that this plate also serves as a mounting for the trip lever 30 and that it is suitably secured to the sub-frame of the elevator car.

vVhen the elevator car is in an alined position before a doorway of the elevator shaft, the bar 34 will be in register with a hinged wear plate 38 which is dependent from its pivotal mounting upon the door lock and hangs downwardly inflan interposed position between the lock bar 39 and the bar 34. This lock bar is horizontally and slidably mounted within a lock case 40 secured to the side of the elevator shaft and beneath the elevator door. The inner end of the bar is piyotally secured by a pin 41 to a counterweight lever 42 which is pivot-- ally mounted upon a pin 43 for vertical swinging movement. The light end of the lever 42 is provided with a pin 44 which extends into a slotted opening 45 formed in the lower end of a lock-bolt 46. This bolt is slidably mounted for vertical movement within the lock case 40 and normally projects above the case and stands in an obstructing position along the horizontal path of travel of a lock lug 47. This lug is secured to the lower edge of the door 11 and when in contact with the bolt 46 prevents the opening of the door.

As previously described, the lifting bar 21 and the various connecting bars and levers interposed between the lifting bar and the trip lever 30 are inwardly actuated by the rotation of the eccentric cam 20. This movement, however, merely starts the actuation of the mechanism, which is completed by the movement of a cam finger 48 mount ed to rotate with the shaft 16. This cam finger is secured to the outer face of the eccentric cam 20 and rotates therewith. The face of the cam finger encounters a roller 49 secured at the upper end of the lifting bar 21 and produces a quick upward movement of the bar the instant the controller lever is brought to a vertical position, and a quick downward movement the instant the lever leaves its vertical position.

As a means for yieldably holding the actuating bar 34 in an inoperative position and also the mechanism provided to swing said bar, a weight 50 is connected by a cable 51' V to the short leg of the trip lever 30 and thereby maintains the entire mechanism in a taut condition without the useof springs and other unreliable expedients.

In operation, the elevator car is controlled by the control lever 12 which, when swung to the position indicated in Fig. 1 of the r open when the car has stopped. The movement of the lever to this neutral -position first rotates the eccentric cam 20 through the medium of the arcuate lock member 15 and its arm 17.

As the cam swings upon its" pivot, the lifting bar 21 will be slightly,

raised, due to the eccentricity of the cam;

As the cam reaches the height of its lift, the

cam finger 48 will swing into engagement with the roller 49 andasit continues to move toward a vertical position will completely lift the bar 21. This lifting movement of the eccentric cam and the cam finger will cause'the connecting rod 25 to be drawn upto swing in. the direction indicated by the arrow c in Fig. 2. As this lever swings,

the lock actuating member 32 will swing for-' wardly and the bar 34 will be brought to bear against the pivoted wear plate 38. It will be noted that as the actuating member is swung by means of the trip lever, the pin at the end of its shank will pass along the Vshaped slot 36 and when the bar has pressed against the wear plate in a manner to actuate the lock bolt 46, the pin will be positioned in the upper end of the slot, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

As the actuating bar 34 moves the rod 39 inwardly, it will relieve the weight of the counterweighted arm 42 and permit the bolt to pass downwardly in a manner to clear the lug 47, thus allowing the door to be opened. hen the door is closed, the controller lever 12 may then be swung from its neutral position and will relievethe lifting bar 21 so that the weight 50 will draw it to its lowermost position and swing the actuating bar from engagement with the wear plate 38 and therefore permit the locking bolt 46 to be moved upwardly by the counterweighted arm.

It will thus be seen that the door locking mechanism here provided is simple and positive in operation and is directly operated by movement of the power control lever of an elevator car.

While we have shown the preferred construction of our safety door lock for elevator shafts, as now known to us, it will be understood that various changes in the combination, construction, and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. In a safety latch for elevators, a case adapted to project inwardly from the wall of an elevator shaft below the door, a hin ed wear plate outside of the case, a lock-bar horizontally mounted with one end against the hinged wear plate and extending into the case, a counterweight pivotally mounted in the case and pivotally connected to the lock-bar, a lever extending horizontally from the counterweight, a lock-bolt mounted in the case for vertical reciprocation and pivotally connected to the horizontal lever and adapted to extend out of the case to lock the door, and means carried by the elevator and connected to the controller; so that when the controller is in neutral position the hinged plate will be engaged to move the lock-bar in and withdraw the lockbolt and allow the door to be opened.-

2. In a safety latch for elevators, a casing adapted to be mounted upon the inner face of the elevator shaft below the elevator door, a wear plate pivotally mounted outside of the case, a lock-bar horizontally mounted through the case and engaging the wear plate, a counterweighted lever pivotally mounted in the case and connected to the lock-bar, a latch-bolt vertically and slidably mounted in the case and connected to the counterweighted lever and adapted to engage and lock the elevator door when extended, and means carried by the elevator and connected to the controller; so that when the controller is in neutral position and the elevator near the floor level the wear plate will be operated to withdraw the latchbolt and release the elevator door.

3. In a safety latch for elevators, a controller case, a main shaft mounted horizo-ntally in the case, a controller lever pivotally mounted on the shaft, a stub-shaft above the lever shaft, an arcuate locking bar pivotally mounted upon the stub-shaft,

an arm extending upwardly from the arcuate member, pins in the upper end of the arm, one upon each side of the controller lever, so as to actuate the arcuate member simultaneously with the controller lever, a lifting cam mounted upon the stub-shaft and fixed to rotate with the arcuate locking bar, a lifting bar having an elongated slot encompassing the lifting cam and having a guide slot, a fixed guide roller for the guide slot; so that the lifting bar may be reciprocated vertically by the operation of the lifting cam; a connecting rod extending from the lower end of the lifting bar through the floor of the elevator, a bell crank mounted below the floor of the elevator and attached to the connecting rod, a second connecting rod mounted horizontally below the floor of the elevator and connected to the bell crank, and means operated by the second connecting rod whereby the elevator door is unlocked when the controller lever is in neutral position and the elevator near the level of a floor.

4c- In a safety latch for elevators, a main shaft mounted horizontally, a controller lever pivotally mounted on the main shaft, a stub-shaft above the main shaft and parallel therewith, a locking bar pivotally mounted on the stub-shaft, an arm extending upwardly from the locking bar, pins in the upper end of the arm, one upon each side of the controller lever so as to actuate the locking bar simultaneously with the con troller lever, a lifting cam mounted upon the stub-shaft and fixed to rotate with the looking bar, a lifting bar having an elongated slot encompassing the lifting cam and having a guide slot, a fixed guide for the guide slot; so that the lifting bar may be reciprocated vertically by the operation of the lifting cam; a connecting rod extending from the lower end of the lifting bar through the floor of the elevator, and means operated by the connecting rod whereby the elevator door is unlocked when the controller lever is in neutral position and the elevator near the level of a floor.

In testimony whereof we have signed'our names to this specification.

RICHARD J. ROULO. CLAUDE L. ROULO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. 0. 

